The present invention is directed toward a flexible electrode catheter and more particularly, toward a process which will provide an extremely flexible, versatile, and conductive coating for electrophysiology catheters.
Currently, the electrophysiology industry uses stainless steel, platinum, or gold as materials for the electrodes that transmit electric signals between the catheter and cardiac tissue. There are several disadvantages in using such rigid metal electrode bands. For one, because of the electrodes"" inflexibility, metal electrodes can significantly affect the overall flexibility of the catheter by constraining the electrode lengths and spacing between individual electrode bands. Also, the methods used to fix the metal electrodes to the catheter are usually time-consuming and can damage the catheter in the process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,742 to Willis discloses electrode bands which are applied to the exterior surface of a cardiac catheter. The bands may be sprayed onto the catheter. This patent, however, does not provide electrodes with the flexibility necessary for electrophysiology catheters.
The present invention is designed to overcome the deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. It is an object of the present invention to provide a flexible electrode catheter.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a manufacturing process which provides a flexible, versatile, and conductive coating for electrophysiology catheters.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a coating for a catheter which may be applied to the catheter via atomization spraying without affecting the integrity of the polymer substrate of the catheter.
In accordance with the illustrative embodiments demonstrating features and advantages of the present invention, there is provided a process for manufacturing a conductive adhesive band electrode that is flexible and can be applied to a catheter via atomization spraying. The process includes the steps of corona plasma treating a catheter, coating the catheter with an adhesive, baking the adhesive on the catheter, creating radial indents on the coated surface of the catheter, removing portions of the coated surface from the indented areas so that conduction between the different electrodes is broken. Portholes are then punched into the catheter and magnetic wires are inserted within the catheter and wrapped around the indented conductive areas. A small amount of formulated silver paint is then placed around the areas of coiled magnetic wire. The entire indent, which includes the coiled wire and the area where the coating was removed, is then filled in radially with an adhesive coating.